Which to use
“joss” and “jour” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,813
- “joss” frequency rank
- #29,330
- “jour” frequency rank
- 55143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | joss | jour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A Chinese household divinity; a Chinese idol. | Abbreviation of journeyman, e.g. jour printer. |
Where the eye mixes joss and jour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. joss (CVCC) and jour (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between joss and jour
A purely visual mix-up. joss (/dʒɒs/) and jour (/ˈd͡ʒɝ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
joss is recorded at frequency rank #25,813, classified as anoun, pronounced /dʒɒs/. jour is at rank #29,330, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɝ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 55143, this pair ranks #135,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of joss vs jour
Shared letters: jo. Private to "joss": s. Private to "jour": ru.
"joss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "jour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "joss" for "jour" ever safe?
Which is more common, "joss" or "jour"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "joss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "jour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,877 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "joss" and "jour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jour vs Jove". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #135,877 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.